State News

Iowa Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer announced Thursday that she is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential primary, becoming the first Iowa Democratic House member to back a candidate in the race. “Joe Biden’s character, record, and commitment... Read More

CHICAGO — Customers spent almost $3.2 million on legal weed in Illinois on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Wednesday, marking one of the strongest showings of any state in the history of pot legalization. “This is particularly impressive... Read More

ATLANTA — A faulty test was used to screen hundreds of Puerto Ricans who applied for Georgia driver’s licenses and identification cards over many years, a new Georgia Bureau of Investigation report shows. Department of Driver Services investigators used the... Read More

CHICAGO — The project has gained Chicago City Council approval, many of the architectural drawings of the Obama Presidential Center have been drafted and refined and a collective of contractors has been hired to build the campus. But nearly four... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was 7:30 a.m. inside a nearly vacant Giant Eagle grocery store in New Albany, but in the back corner there were 18 people standing outside the shuttered liquor section. The liquor store didn’t open until 9... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — The presidential politics calendar turned to 2020 nearly a year ago. This week, the actual date catches up. What we’re watching as the preseason closes and election year opens: Days to Iowa caucuses: 35 Days to general... Read More

MIAMI — Sonia Domínguez, 74, and her husband, Miguel Morejón, 81, can’t recall the last time they’ve seen a dentist in Miami, the city they’ve called home for more than two decades. “It may have been around three, four years... Read More

If among your wishes this holiday season is that you arrive safe and sound at your destination, it would probably be a good idea to avoid complex and confusing highway interchanges. At least, that is what is suggested by a... Read More

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Rep. Joe Walsh will appear on North Carolina's Republican presidential primary ballot, despite objections from state GOP leaders, the state Board of Elections said Friday. The bipartisan elections panel voted unanimously to add... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Democrats voted to lift a $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, repealing a deduction limit Republicans had imposed as part of their 2017 tax code overhaul. The bill, H.R.5377 , which was... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., is leading a congressional effort to urge the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation into potential fair housing violations exposed in a recent report in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Using undercover testers... Read More

A federal judge said he will allow Georgia to begin a sweeping purge of its voter rolls Monday, just hours after he initially put the potential removal of more than 300,000 inactive voter registrations on hold. U.S. District Judge Steve... Read More

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s controversial plan to impose work requirements and monthly premiums for many Kentucky Medicaid recipients is no more, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday. In one of his first major moves as the... Read More

Republicans aren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for Jeff Van Drew. The New Jersey Democratic congressman may have hoped his defection to the GOP would ease his path to reelection in a conservative-leaning district. His political prospects as a... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for a recount. Cuomo pitched legislation Monday as part of his planned 2020 State of the State address that would mandate automatic manual recounts in close elections across the state and lay... Read More

ATLANTA — Until her old concrete-block precinct shut down, Maggie Coleman lived about a mile from a place to cast her ballot in rural Georgia. Now, she has to drive nearly 10 miles, past cotton fields and fallow farms, to... Read More

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday restored the voting rights of more than 140,000 people with nonviolent felony convictions, making good on an inaugural promise he made after being sworn in recently. The order signed by Beshear applies to Kentuckians... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — When votes were tallied last month using new voting machines in Northampton County, it was quickly obvious that something had gone wrong. The numbers were so clearly inaccurate that a judge ordered the machines impounded, scanners were brought... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — Add North Carolina’s attorney general to the list of those who don’t think the University of North Carolina System should give $2.5 million to the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans to preserve and display the Silent Sam... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote the House and Senate appropriations panels this week, asking them to withhold funding from a new Trump administration proposal to accelerate the capture of 130,000 wild horses across the west in the... Read More

DETROIT — An advocacy group is suing Detroit election officials, claiming they violated the National Voter Registration Act by failing to properly maintain city voting rolls, including listing long-dead residents and keeping multiple registrations for the same people. The “failure”... Read More

Ohio's Secretary of State on Wednesday referred the names of 18 voters to prosecutors for allegedly casting multiple votes in the 2018 mid-term election. Secretary Frank LaRose said the voters were identified through the Electronic Registration Information Center, a coalition... Read More

ATLANTA — Judges on the federal appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday peppered lawyers with questions in a case that could set an important precedent for bathroom access by transgender high school students. Two judges, both members of the more... Read More

WASHINGTON - A Virginia commission tasked with researching racist laws adopted in the state's past recommended Thursday that scores of them be officially repealed, including measures that prevented black voters from casting ballots and prohibited interracial marriage. "The devastating long-term... Read More

MIAMI — As part of his effort to help down-ballot Democrats grow their numbers in the Capitol, one-time gubernatorial candidate and former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has decided on 21 candidates to endorse and support financially in 2020. Gillum’s Forward... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House Ways and Means Committee could take up legislation as early as next week that would increase a limit on state and local tax deductions that has riled Democrats from high-cost regions, according to a senior panel... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — New Jersey’s elementary school students would be required to learn, read and write cursive by the end of third grade, under a bill now in the state Assembly. “In some cases, children are entering middle school without knowing... Read More

WASHINGTON - Four states are appealing a federal judge’s September dismissal of their lawsuit challenging federal authority to limit state and local tax deductions. In a filing before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, attorneys for the states argue... Read More

ATLANTA — When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announces Wednesday that he’s picked financial executive Kelly Loeffler for an open U.S. Senate seat, she’ll have some powerful backup to help defend her new post. The National Republican Senatorial Committee will support... Read More

WASHINGTON — The new congressional maps passed by North Carolina state lawmakers last month can stand for the 2020 election, a three-judge panel ruled Monday. The previous maps gave Republicans a 10-3 advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under... Read More